Prime mover rotors such as propellers of fixed-wing aircraft and main rotors of rotary-wing aircraft have associated equipment such as pitch control devices for adjusting the pitch of the blades of the rotors and also de-icing devices. Typically, hydraulic power from the engine oil is used for pitch control and electrical power can be used for de-icing. Hydraulic power can be relatively inefficient to generate since pumps must be sized for maximum demand and then bypassed for much of the flight cycle and hence can represent a parasitic loss. With respect to supplying electrical power to de-icing devices of a rotor, multiple slip rings and brushes can be necessary to transfer the de-icing power. Slip rings and brushes can be prone to wear and require periodic maintenance.
Improvement is therefore desirable.